Louisiana federal prosecutors have charged an alleged Hamas-affiliated agent, who was said to have participated in the October 7 massacre in southern Israel, after he entered the United States on fake declarations on documents, according to court documents released by The New York Times on Thursday.
Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub al-Muhtadi, a 33-year-old who is also known by the name ‘Abu Ala,’ allegedly organized the armed terrorists who entered southern Israel in 2023 and murdered more than 1200 people, taking a further 250 hostage.
Prosecutors also claimed that Ala was a member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) and the National Resistance Brigade.
Ala was accused, among other things, of providing information to a terrorist organization. He is reportedly one of the first low-ranked Hamas terrorists to be subjected to an indictment in the US.
Ala had declared that he was born in Gaza in 1991 and was residing in Egypt at the time of his application after leaving the Strip in March 2024.
In that same application, he denied having specialized training or skills in firearms, explosives, nuclear, biological, or chemical experience. He also denied ever working in any paramilitary organization or having engaged in terrorist activities, nor having funded or held membership in any terrorist organization. Ala also denied in his application that he had ever participated in, ordered, or incited any extrajudicial killings, political killings, or other acts of violence.
Further investigation revealed that after the massacre, al-Muhtadi allegedly returned to Gaza, obtained a fake Palestinian passport, and fraudulently acquired a US visa in August 2024, entering the country in September 2024.
Evidence reveals participation in October 7 attack
Phone transcripts recovered by the FBI are said to reveal the Hamas operative informing other terrorists, "Be prepared, the borders are open," and requesting bullets and bulletproof vests.
Ala’s phone was also found to have been used near the devastated Kibbutz Kfar Aza on the day of the massacre, where around 60 people were murdered and 19 abducted, including American citizens.
“Yes, there is kidnapping, and it’s a game, which will be a good one,” Ala could be heard saying in one of the intercepted calls. “It might be the reason to cease fire. Once there is a ceasefire, I will give you two of the dogs I have right away.”
Other intercepted calls from Ala’s phone reveal him asking terrorists to bring rifles, ammunition, and vests, and speaking about how other enemies on Israel’s borders would likely join the war.
Officials claimed that Ala failed to declare his involvement in the terror organizations when applying for residency in the United States, allowing him to receive permission to live in the country based on false information.
Pre-dating the massacre, old messages on his personal devices revealed photos of Ala wearing the red headband associated with the NRB. A photo from that same year on Ala’s device showed him taking responsibility for an NRB-owned “Russian-made 1984…along with three magazines and a total of 90 bullets.”
In September 2020, Ala sent another social media user a group picture with multiple men wearing the NRB headband, captioned “this is my group.” Other messages that year included photos of rocket launchers, which he claimed to have at his home, and more photos of him along with NRB members.
More than a year after the October 7 attack, authorities claimed to have found that Ala had sent propaganda about the “Al-Aqsa Flood” (Hamas’s name for October 7) to another social media user.
A month after the April message, Ala was said to have sent a message on the “joint operation” on October 7, noting the role of DFLP.
In May 2025, the government of Israel also contacted the United States to share intelligence that Ala was a DFLP member who had fled Gaza after participating in the massacre.
Yoav Etiel contributed to this report.